In order to respect provincial, territorial, and federal legislative frameworks and requirements, such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA), regulatory bodies for the teaching profession deemed it crucial to make the LCATP accessible—i.e., accounting for the potential diversity of special test-taking needs—prior to its official launch. Ensuring accessibility needs are met would maintain fairness in the assessment process and strengthen assessment validity, while respecting legislative frameworks in Canada.
The AODA requires that public-facing websites and content meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA criteria. Consequently, the CMEC Secretariat seeks to retain the services of a Proponent to assess the LCATP and recommend accommodations to be developed, to ensure LCATP compliance with AODA and to meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria.
The objective is to be able to offer specific, reasonable accommodations by request and on a case-by-case basis, appropriate to each test-takers’ conditions and needs, in addition to also having certain accommodations generally available without request.
When formulating recommended accommodations, the Proponent must take into account that the LCATP will also be remotely proctored, in real time by online proctors.
